W-M

[skyline72]

Hi,

Wondering if there is anyone who has done the WM formation successfully.

I currently set it up as a 322"3".

FB-D CB-C FB-D

HB HB

AM-A AM-A

W-A F9 W-A

My mentality and team shape are Control and Very Fluid.

TI: Higher Tempo, Narrow width, Use Offside trap, Play out of defense, shorter passing, retain possession, be more disciplined, work ball into box.

PI:

GK - Roll it out

FB - Close down more, tackle harder, mark tighter, sit narrower, cut inside with ball

CB - Tackle harder

HB - Shoot less often, tackle harder, fewer risky passes

Winger - Shoot less often, tackle harder, roam from position, fewer risky passes

AM - Tackle harder

F9 - Shoot less often, tackler harder, roam from position

My possession are dominating(60+) for every game but I don't seem to have the triangle passes which I saw from here: http://www.fm-base.co.uk/forum/share-download-fm-14-tactics/158314-w-m-tactic-system-behind-total-football-tiki-taka-14-3-a.html.

It is this sort of play that I fell in love and I am trying to do it in FM16 without much success.

My passes are quite direct from the HB to the flanks or over the top to my F9.

Hope to hear some advice.

[herne79]

How did you get on with the changes you were discussing here http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/32160-Stupid-Questions-Thread-(Tactic-and-Training-Questions-Only)?p=10843432#post10843432?

You just copy/pasted from that thread, so did the changes not work out? What was the issue?

In possession, those 2 Half Backs will drop into the back line. Both fullbacks are on defend. The closest players to these 5 are two Attacking Midfielders with an attack duty. That's a huge gap for you to try to work the ball through - no wonder passes from the half backs are quite direct.

Essentially you have two teams playing - 5 at the back and 5 at the front, with nobody in between to link the two together.

[skyline72]

How did you get on with the changes you were discussing here http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/32160-Stupid-Questions-Thread-(Tactic-and-Training-Questions-Only)?p=10843432#post10843432?

You just copy/pasted from that thread, so did the changes not work out? What was the issue?

In possession, those 2 Half Backs will drop into the back line. Both fullbacks are on defend. The closest players to these 5 are two Attacking Midfielders with an attack duty. That's a huge gap for you to try to work the ball through - no wonder passes from the half backs are quite direct.

Essentially you have two teams playing - 5 at the back and 5 at the front, with nobody in between to link the two together.

Hi,

I thought opening a thread will have more advises.

Anyway, I did tried pulling the 2 AM-A down to the MC strata and change their roles to AP-A but passes from the half backs are still direct.

[skyline72]

I cannot understand why my HBs keep directing their passes to the Wingers and F9.

[Dr. Hook]

Cleon made a W-M a couple years ago (or more). I think he had some success with it, but at the end of the day, modern formation will rip it to pieces

As for why your HBs pass to the wingers and F9, that is more than likely because they are available for passes. Your AM are on attack duty and they push up the middle pretty far. Against most formations you will see, the middle will be packed with players. Your F9 comes deep to get the ball and the wingers have some space out wide, but up the middle there is probably nothing to pass towards. Try one of your AMs on a support duty and see if he will link up better with your back line. Remember that if you recover the ball in your own half, your halfbacks will start from very deep and they will need people coming back to offer options.

[herne79]

Load up a match where this happens, watch it on full detail. Watch just your HBs.

When a HB makes such a pass, what other passing options did he have? How many of your players are unmarked and open to receive a pass? Use the pause and rewind buttons to see. Find more examples of similar behaviour - is there a pattern?

[skyline72]

I tried shifting the 2 AM down to MC strata and gave them AP-A roles.

But same thing still happen.

Probably will drop the mentality down a few notch to see if it works.

[poobington]

Perhaps try changing your mentality down to Standard. With a very fluid system you have to take into account that all your players are taking on far more creative responsibility. In combination with the more aggressive control mentality your Half Backs have the freedom to play direct passes and will do so more often due to the mentality.

If you read either of Ozil's threads on systems with a Very Fluid shape and Standard mentality will you get a better explanation, but in short his description is very clear:

Very Fluid: For me, the description below describes word-for-word exactly what we're looking for here. Complete footballers, attacking and defending as a team in a fluid shape playing free-flowing football with high creative freedom. Perfect.

Standard: Balance is the key word here. The temptation here would be to select control, or attacking. The reason I went for Standard is that playing a Very Fluid shape means that my team will attack and defend as a unit. This means that selecting a more aggressive mentality would make my entire team more aggressive. In other shapes, such as rigid or balanced, this is balanced out by reducing the defenders mentality but not in Very Fluid shapes. In my experience, Very Fluid shape does not mix well with Attacking mentality. I am sure it could work but in my experience it is simply not balanced.

[skyline72]

I dropped my mentality from Attacking to Control.

Team shape from Very Fluid to Structured.

Playing with 2 DMs as half back. 2 AMs as SS and AP-S.

The plays now are beautiful as the AP-S will drop down and collect the ball. Most of the assists are through ball or passes.

The 1 touch passing is so great to watch.

[herne79]

Good job

[skyline72]

It would be good to use Inside Forward as Wingers